Measures against U.S. Meta impersonation fraud ads are “insufficient” – Liberal Democratic Party Rep. Hirai – Bloomberg

In response to the widespread problem of fraudulent advertisements impersonating celebrities on the social media site Facebook, Takuya Hirai, head of the Digital Society Promotion Headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party, said in the U.S. The company has announced that it will demand that Meta Platforms promptly take stronger action. The company is also considering inviting CEO Mark Zuckerberg to the Diet as a witness and creating legislation that would make the company’s management company accountable to a certain degree.

When compared to other major social networking sites (SNS), it is clear to anyone that the rate of fraudulent advertisements on Facebook is extremely high, adding, “Meta is one of the highest among platform companies. “It’s the company with the least compliance,” Hirai said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Regarding this issue, ZOZO founder Yusaku Maezawa, a wealthy businessman, and Takafumi Horie, a businessman, strongly criticized Meta, saying that their images were used in fraudulent advertisements without their permission, causing damage. Both parties attended a related meeting of the Liberal Democratic Party this month and are calling for the national government to take immediate action. On the 25th, four people who were victims of the fraud filed a lawsuit with the Kobe District Court against Meta’s Japanese subsidiary, demanding approximately 23 million yen in damages, alleging that it had not fulfilled its responsibilities as the operator.

Meta’s Japanese subsidiary commented in an interview with Bloomberg that the company takes the concerns of users, advertising clients, government authorities, and others who were victims of fraud seriously.

Meta has invested heavily in fraudulent advertisements impersonating celebrities. Although measures are being taken, there are challenges involved in reviewing the huge number of advertisements from around the world. Although Mr. Hirai expressed some understanding of Meta’s claims, he said that most fraudulent advertisements go unchecked, saying, “I can’t see any efforts being made.”

Mr. Hirai proposed that Meta temporarily suspend all advertising. He said he would like to see concrete measures taken during the current Diet session, such as the state of regulations and the strengthening of penalties. He said that he has heard from companies that are hesitant about advertising on Facebook, and that if the problem is left unaddressed, it may become difficult for Facebook to continue doing business in Japan.

Hirai was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2000. He has been serving as the head of the Digital Society Promotion Headquarters since 2021.

“The flood of fraudulent ads will suddenly become invisible. I’m hoping for that to happen soon,” he said, adding that even though Facebook has technology to identify faces in photos, it still misses fraudulent ads during screening. “It’s impossible,” he said.

(Update with meta comments)